The present invention relates to a disposable ashtray designed to dispose of cigarette butts, ashes and the like contained therein by changing it into a sealed state so that there is no cause of fire. The disposal can be made simply and quickly without touching the ashes, cigarette butts and the like.
The present invention further relates to a disposable ashtray composed of a plurality of ash receiving saucers, and when the ash receiving saucer stacked at the top is disposed of as described above, a new ash receiving saucer is exposed instantly from underneath for an immediate use, by which the labor for replacing an ashtray with a cleaned one can be saved. It is convenient for use and timesaving as well.
As is well known, the conventional ashtrays have been used for temporarily putting a cigarette thereon while smoking and also for containing cigarette butts, ashes and the like therein, and most of them are made of such materials as metal, glass and ceramics. Generally, ashes and cigarette butts are thrown away into empty cans or trash cans and, thereafter, water is sprinkled for fire prevention. It is also customary to clean the used ashtrays by washing them for their next use.
Accordingly, the conventional ashtrays had inconveniences since ashes and cigarette butts needed to be completely extinguished for fire prevention when they were disposed of, and moreover, it was time and labor consuming for cleaning ashtrays for the next use. Especially, at such places as hotels, restaurants and offices where a great number of ashtrays are used, it is really a considerable workload for those who take care of the washing and the disposal of ashes, cigarette butts and the like. In addition, the cleaning work is disliked by workers since ashtrays are dirtied by ashes and so forth. Hence, some improvements are desired.
In order to solve such problems, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. Sho 60-164898 discloses an ashtray-cover made of an aluminum foil which is placed on the surface of an ashtray. According to this prior art, the ashtray itself is prevented from dirt by eliminating direct contact with smoked cigarettes. After use, the ashtray cover is wadded up with cigarette butts, ashes and the like contained therein, and is disposed. However, it is difficult to make the inside of the cover in a state of complete sealing even when the cover is wadded up into a ball, and when the wadded ashtray cover is thrown away into a trash can, it invites an inflow of air into the cover and can enkindle the cigarette butts resulting in a cause of fire. Moreover, it is quite troublesome to transform the ashtray cover to fit it along concave section of the ashtray since the cover is formed in a plane shape originally.
As an another attempt to solve these problems, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Sho 48-98971 discloses an ash receiving saucer made of an aluminum foil piled up for use. However, this prior art fails in making clear reference to a practical approach to extinguish cigarette butts surely and automatically either.